The people you meet

Went down to Sloan last Wednesday for a treatment. No doctor visit, just a treatment. The appointment was at 2:30 so we took the 10:05 out of Albany and got down there around 12:30. It was warm (40 degrees) in the city so we decided to hike the 20 blocks up to 53rd st. to have lunch at the Stage Deli. The walk was nice and Times Square as usual was bustling with tourists. You can tell the tourist from the local by either their stare upwards (tourist) or their stare straight ahead avoiding eye contact with all the tour bus guys or the b-way show ticket guys. At this point I'm a mix. I still look and have mastered the friendly "no thank you" to the street sales folks. Lunch was delicious as usual. Had the corned beef half sandwich with a side of potato salad. We ended up continuing our walk over to the clinic. Another 10 blocks or so. Total distance from Penn to the clinic approx. 1.5 miles. Saved the cab fare.

We got to the clinic and had my blood drawn and sat down to our wait. We were sitting down in this area of the room and in walked a guy who wreaked of cigarette smoke. Smelled like he rolled in an ashtray. I'm a former smoker so I'll admit I'm a bit sensitive to the smell. Any ways I had to get up and move away from the offending odor. While sitting in our less smelly area of the waiting room I overheard this guys talking to one of the women who work the front. He was telling his story. His journey seemed to parallel mine except he was ahead of me. When he walked by I said hello and told him that I liked his story. He sat with us and filled us in further. He was diagnosed in 2004 had undergone multiple surgeries and treatment protocols and is now NED (no eveidence of disease). He went on to tell us that he was a teamster and worked as a key grip in the city. He told us about all the movies and TV shows that he worked on. He was very positive and made me feel great to have met him.
We also met a woman who had an incredible story too. She was around our age and was diagnosed with CC about 4 years ago. She told us she went thru some sugery and treatment was declared clean and was then whacked with breast cancer. She really was a trooper and was also very positive. She told us of her ordeal and was very comedic about it. Again I was glad that she came into our lives and shared her story and listened to ours.
It seems that the law of atraction was at work that day down at sloan. I was wearing one of my "Life is Good" shirts and smiling and feeling upbeat. What you think about you bring about and we were so lucky to bring 2 special strangers who we now consider freinds into our life.

It's a New Year!

Well its a new year and I'm looking forward to enjoying life and spending time with those who make me happy. Specifically family and friends.

So the treatment I had in early December really knocked me down. My liver was pretty well fried and was no processing properly. I declined the 2nd treatment in December and my doctor readily agreed. I needed a break. I went back down to Sloan last week and got the treatment. Pump was filled and systemic was administered albeit at a lower dose. The lower dose has definitely agreed with me. I felt great and didn't have any of the nasty side effects with the exception of a slight mouth sore which I'm trying to fight off with salt water rinses and swish.

Work is going well and with the new style 48 hour infusion pump I am able to go into the office instead of working from home. Our company is doing great and growing rapidly despite the current economic climate. I feel very lucky and blessed to have landed here. The lord works in mysterious ways and I know that I was given this opportunity on purpose.

Family life is great. Sandy and Olivia have been going to various play groups in order to escape the confines of our home. Sandy redecorated and painted our bed room recently and did a great job. We installed a back up generator on our house. Now if the power goes out the generator automatically starts and powers a sub set of circuits in our house. Bring on the ice storms we're ready.

Well thats all I have for now. I'm enjoying my long 4 day weekend, went to an antique show today, going to dinner and movies with Sandy tommorow and who knows what for Sunday and Monday.

Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Merry Christmas

Christmas has come and gone. We were down in the city on the 23rd to see the Oncologist. I had a bit of a rough cycle and I was not prepared to undergo another. I ended up with my hands burning. They looked like I dipped them in boiling water. I couldn’t close my hands to make a fist without feeling lots of pain. I was so exhausted and fatigued that I was coming home from work and was in bed by 8 PM for a couple of weeks. The doc told us that it was caused by my liver not being able to keep up with its job of cleaning the chemo out of my blood therefore the stuff was hanging around longer than necessary and hence the side effects. We decided that it would be best to reduce the dosage so I don’t get so fatigued. It’s a quality of life issue. The doctor gave me a script for some medicine to boost my liver which seems to be working. I declined the treatment that was scheduled because wanted to feel good for the holidays and the doctor said that it would not be a problem and wouldn’t hurt anything. He told us "Big picture your doing great, this is typical and you should not worry about it." They filled my HAI pump with saline as scheduled and off we went. We had record time in out in less than 2 hours. We had lots of time before our train home so we went up to 5th Ave. to check out the window displays and to shop some. We stopped at St. Pats and ended up staying for the noon mass. We said a prayer at Ann Seton’s shrine and made our way over to Rockefeller Center to check out the Christmas tree. The tree was very beautiful and it looks much bigger on TV than in real life.

The whole area was decked out with great displays of the Christmas season.

We continued our adventure and found ourselves at the Stage Deli which is one of our favorites in the city. We had a hot coffee and a corned beef sandwich that was delicious. It was around 4PM and we thought we’d try to see if we could catch an early train home. No such luck all the train are sold out going to Albany. Oh well… We ended up at a bar in Penn and sat down to kill 2 hours before our train departed. Sandy had some drinks and I drank water. We met and chatted with lots of other travelers. It was nice to meet so many friendly people. We made it home without any issues and started getting ready for our big Christmas dinner party.
We have been hosting Christmas dinner for family for a couple of years now. So we had lots of prep work to do and by we I mean Sandy. She is the best and really did a great job putting it all together. Olivia was looking forward to the arrival of Santa Claus and her gifts that would be under the tree. We spent Christmas Eve setting up and getting ready for the next day. Olivia was in bed by 8:30 anda slept right through the night. She woke up around 6:45 and wanted to come to our bed and snuggle with us. This is her morning ritual. I asked her a couple of times if she wanted to go down and see if Santa came and she would reply “no not yet, maybe after Blue’s Clues”. Eventually she hopped out of bed and ran down stairs to the tree. We were hot on her tail but she made it there ahead of us and all we heard was “ooooooooo Santa came”. She opened her gifts and liked each one better than the last. She is such a happy kid. We got ready for our company to arrive. Uncle Jim and Aunt Lisa (Olivia’s God Parents) came around noon time. Aunt Lisa had to work so she wanted to see Olivia open her presents. Everyone else arrived shortly thereafter. Olivia took her nap as scheduled and woke up right before we all sat down for ham dinner Christmas feast. We said grace and then went around the table stating what we were grateful for. I started by giving thanks for Sandy and Olivia and all the joy that they bring me. I am thankful for my care team that they are so smart and have the knowledge to lead me to a cure. I gave thanks for my supportive family who is always there for us no matter what. Dinner was delicious and everyone enjoyed the sweets for dessert afterwards. Christmas day was a great time for all.

We are now awaiting the New Year which I pray will be filled with healing and good health. I hope your New year brings you all you ever wanted and lots of good fortune. Until next time.

Off to Sloan in snow storm...

This past Wednesday we had our first (well second) snow storm. We knew it was coming so we got up extra early to get the train. We left our house at 6:50 am and didn't arrive at the train station until 8:15 am. The driving conditions were horrible and subsequently we missed our train. Next train at 10:15. The ticket agent was very kind and gave us the same price for the reissues tickets. He could of charged us and additional $40. Good things will come him I'm sure. So we waited in the train station. Thankfully they have wireless access and I was able to work while Sandy facebooked. We called the office and let them know we were going to be late due to the storm. We arrived in the city at 12:30 and jumped in a cab over to the the office. They quickly drew my blood and then shortly there after I saw my oncologist. "Everything is going along great" he said "from our perspective you are doing great and have nothing to worry about". Nice news to hear. Chemo was prescribed and I was off to see the surgeon for a follow up. She was happy to see the wound and its healing progress. She mentioned that I could consider thinking about the reversal of the ostomy. This is something that I'm anxious to do but I'll have to talk it over with my oncologist. I think that we'll wait and see what happens with the current chemo regimen and if I get to resection then we'll do both procedures in one shot.
I'm back to work now and its been Ok so far. I am very tired by the end of the day and usually I'm in bed shortly after Olivia (9PM). This past treatment was little rough and I spent most of the weekend in bed. I worked from home on Monday. I'm hoping I feel up to going into the office on Tuesday.
We also got our bill for the copay from Sloan today complete with a 20% discount. Totally unexpected and certainly welcome. Cancer is expensive to treat and to live with. I thank my lucky starts that I have the means and a good job that enables us to afford it. I can't imagine what it would be like if we didn't have insurance.

Thanks to everyone who reads my posts. Sometimes I feel like they are so self centered but I guess you guys want to know what's going on in my life. So with that thank you all for your support and encouragement. Have a happy holiday season!

Thanksgiving

I had a treatment scheduled for Wednesday, yes that Wednesday the one where everyone is traveling. We boarded the crowded 8:05 to NYC and off we went. Al was well until we reached Yonkers and the conductor announced that there was a derailed train on the tracks and we could go no further. Many folks on the train were a little PO'ed about this as they were going to miss connections etc. They off loaded everyone and an MTA train took us to Grand Central. We arrived at about 11:35 and we quickly got a cab over to the clinic. We made the appointment in time and the doc actually saw us on time. I guess he wanted to leave on time too. The treatment went well and I had very little side effects this time around. We booked the 8:50 to Albany because all the earlier trains were sold out. We were out of the clinic by 4:00 and went to dinner at a Peking Duck House down the street. After dinner we headed over to the station to wait for our train. We tried to get on the 7:15 but the ticket agent told us no shot. So we waited...and finally got home at midnight.

Thanksgiving day was great. We went to my brother's place for dinner. It was good to spend time with the family and friends. Everyone was well fed and happy at the end of the day.

I am thankful for a loving and supportive wife, a healthy and sweet daughter, an awesome and caring family, a professional and knowledgeable health care team, a great employer and so many great friends. Most of all I am thankful for being on the right road and with every one's help and love I know I will be able overcome any challenges thrown my way. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Back in the Saddle

I was back in NYC on Wednesday to see my onc and a follow up with the surgeon. This is the second visit with the onc and he always runs about 2 hours behind. So there we sat and waited...

The visit went well my blood work came back good which meant that I was cleared to get systemic chemo. I had to insist that I not get Avastin because my wound is still healing. We then meant with the nurse who gave us the run down on the side effects and other stuff that the drugs may or may not do to me. Then it was off to see the surgeon. She gave me a good report on the wound and the healing. Back to wait for the infusion nurse to call us.

I sat down in the infusion suite. Very nice and private cubicles equipped with many creature comforts. My infusion only takes 1 hour or less. Then I am sent home with a 48 hour pump. The pump they use at Sloan is different than the electronic one I used to have prior. The Baxter pump is gravity fed and much more light weight and quiet. I hardly knew it was there. That is until it was disconnected and I felt like a truck ran me over. The 5FU really does a job on me. I can't say I missed chemo for the 3 months prior to surgery.

My plan is to return to work in a couple of weeks. Thanks to everyone for your continued support, thoughts and prayers.

1 month post op

It's been just about a month post op now and I'm doing well. I have had the HAI pump filled with chemo and haven't had side effects. At least none that I have felt or noticed. I have been feeling pretty good nd I plan to return to work in about 3 weeks (after Thanksgiving). Next week we head down to Sloan for another followup with the surgeon and posibly get a systemic chemo treatment. I'll let you all know how I made out when I get back.

I want to thank everyone for your continued support through your thoughts and prayers. I am very grateful to all...